Hi, I’m Nikki and knitting has been my passion for most of my life.

When my daughter was born 11 years ago I ditched the rat race and stayed at home to enjoy her early years and start building my own pattern design business.

Most of my patterns have been inspired by my daughter. She loves animals and the outdoors, role play and making up stories.

I have designed many animal knitting patterns based around the characters we have invented in our play. These have branched out into accessories to keep her and her friends warm while they play - animal hoods, gloves, headbands and scarves - and animal bags to collect and carry their goodies in!

I am also a teacher at heart, and I really enjoy sharing my passion for knitting with others. I have been teaching knitting and crochet classes locally for many years and my patterns are designed to be really detailed so that even beginner knitters and crocheters can follow them.

All my patterns contain far more instructions, tips and trick than your average pattern, and I have created a range of tutorial patterns to help knitters learn new skills such as knitting in the round, lace and brioche.

I have also made lots of videos to help knitters with various techniques and give helpful tips. Most of these you can find on my Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/theyarngenie and on my YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDRxoAfrYTca5j0GCqrAhUQ.

I love to make knitting friends from around the world and have knitting chats so do please reach out and say hi!

You can reach me by PM here on Ravelry or by email on nikki@theyarngenie.com.

I live in the stunning Cotswolds with my family and our golden retriever, Iris, who loves to join in our outdoor escapades.